The present invention relates to a device and method for vacuum packing materials in vacuum tight bags, such as plastic bags, and more particularly to a device and method of vacuum packaging suitable for use in the home.
Vacuum packaging is a recognized technique for storing and preserving food. The canning of food results in a vacuum seal, and many retail food items are packaged under vacuum. Vacuum storage is advantageous when freezing food because it eliminates freezer burn. The removal of air surrounding food results in longer shelf life and more flavorful and eye appealing food. Although many foods are sold in vacuum package containers, once the containers are opened and the vacuum lost, repackaging food under vacuum is seldom considered practical. Consequently the benefits of vacuum packaging have been available only until the package is first opened, but after which the food must be used relatively quickly.
Vacuum packaging has not been employed in the home because no convenient and quick means for accomplishing vacuum packing has been heretofore available. Home canning which provides a vacuum seal, is time consuming and generally may not be used to repackage foods sold originally in vacuum containers. Devices for evacuating and sealing bags have heretofore been inconvenient, as for example in Waldrop et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,437, which discloses a receptacle evacuating apparatus and method wherein a food-filled bag is evacuated within a vacuum chamber, clamped onto a vacuum nozzle, and removed while still in communication with a source of vacuum through such nozzle, to a separate heat sealing closing device. However, the retention of the vacuum prior to heat sealing must be performed while the nozzle is attached to a separately provided vacuum resevoir unit. Therefore, the system and apparatus shown by Waldrop et al. appears to be complicated and to require expensive apparatus which is not suitable for convenient home use. Another approach to home vacuum packing of bags is found in Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,646, wherein bags are evacuated and clamped and clipped while the bag remains in communication with a vacuum source. A disadvantage of the process shown in the Hawkins patent is that two separate evacuating steps are required. Moreover, the clamping and clipping device disclosed by Hawkins appears to be complicated and also appears likely to be rather expensive for employment in home use.